weekend in photos

Flickr is apparently down right now so these will be directly uploaded.

I spent most of yesterday afternoon (when I wasn't trying to tweet) cleaning my house. Partly because it had gotten very bad and was making me sad, partly because I had to hang around here because the electrician had said unless some emergency came up, someone could come out to install my new porchlight.

No emergency came up; they were here around noon

Maybe it's not a *perfect* match for the house (my house is a cottage style and the old one was more Colonial in design) but I like Mission Style and also this one was actual finished metal rather than the plastic of the modern versions of the lamps most like the old one (at least 20 years old, maybe more - it was metal and kind of rusty).

The bonus on this is that it's a downward-facing lamp rather than an upward one. Less chance of bug buildup around the lamp base, which is what I think eventually did in the old lamp. Also it should be easier to change the bulb - I *think* I can just reach up and do it; the old one I had to get on a step stool and remove a few screws and reach down in to change the bulb.

Eventually I need to change the ceiling fan in my bedroom (the motor burned out several years ago) but that would require moving LOTS of stuff out of the way so the guys can work.

I cleaned house and also put up the little bracket shelves that I had bought a while back, so the two Bangor and Aroostock toy-train cars are on display:

I also re-hung my signboard, but with the same old quotation on it. I just like this one and it speaks to me. (No, apparently Tolkien didn't actually write it, it's from one of the Peter Jackson movies):




And a few recent acquisitions. I hadn't bought any Ponies for a long time, but I saw one recently I liked. Her name is Desert Rose:

The seller curled her mane, and she came with the ribbon on her.

I got her in part because she goes with Cactus Flower, another G3 Pony:

I like to think they are either sisters or cousins, given the similarity in their names.

Added: here is a MUCH better photo, you can see that they have glitter on their blazes (foreheads? I forget what you call that part of a horse). They are very cute. (The glittered blaze is a G3 thing, but not all G3 ponies have it)

(Correction: The pink pony's name, as it turns out, is Desert Blossom. So: Desert Blossom and Desert Rose, they must be sisters, on the basis of the shared name. I think Desert Rose must be the younger sister.)



At the same time as buying Desert Rose, the same Etsy seller had a (fairly recent, I guess from the 90s?) small Miss Piggy doll dressed in "Miss Piggy Does 50s Teenybopper):

She now sits on my sofa between my big plushie rolly poly and a stuffed Shiba. The whole back of my sofa is now full of overflow stuffed animals...

In addition to "decluttering" (really: finding a place for things), I washed some of the walls and I wet-mopped (with a citrus-based cleaner) the kitchen and bathroom floors, and also the entryway area into the house (you wring the mop out enough and it's safe for finished hardwood). I also swept all the other floors and scrubbed the tub and sink and all the counters and FINALLY got the Christmas tablecloth off and replaced it with a pale-green one that has pink hydrangeas on it, so it will work for spring.

And I did all the laundry.

I did a couple self-care type things too. After getting done with all that stuff (and showering), I used a set of those AHA "magic peeling" foot bootie things (I get bad calluses on my feet) and I changed out the nail polish on my toes.

The color is by Pacifica, it is called "The Cure" and Ulta describes the color as "Gothic pink" (heh)

Oh, one other recent acquisition - I got myself a stuffed Elliot. Elliot from the REAL (as far as I am concerned) "Pete's Dragon," the 1977 or so version. (I think I mentioned this before?) Anyway, he came on Thursday:



He is big and very nice. He is not exactly Minky but a similar soft fabric, his "hair" and the tip of his tail are furry, and the "spots" on his body are sort of like fabric paint or an iron on, so they are smooth:




And now, with what (little) time left in my day (much of the morning and early afternoon was spent over at work, working on the biostats stuff for this coming week, and then I ran out to the local Amish store for more pickled baby corn and a few other things), I'm going to work on my afghan. I think it's bigger now than when I last photographed it:



Next week, though - gonna be busy, have Bell Choir and CWF and Elders' meeting and Board Meeting. Hopefully Thursday evening I can catch a little relaxation, and if I can get my stuff together during the week (so I don't have to go in Saturday) I might take the next quilt down to Home a la Mode to drop it off...and maybe make next weekend the beginning of my official birthday observance with a half-day shopping in Denison